Saving the Villain

"What makes you think... you don\'t?"

"What did she mean by that?" Maxen closed his eyes, covering them with his arm.

Right after Cosette said those words, their classmates just decided to show up on the bus. Thus, they didn\'t have the time to talk about it. They traveled in silence, and he didn\'t have the courage to continue as his classmates rallied around Cosette when they noticed her hand and knees.

Now, here he was, in his room, thinking about her words that kept ringing in his ear in a loop.

"Ugh..." he grunted. "I\'m so stupid."

Why did he kiss her? Of course, he didn\'t regret it, but his mind was filled with the thought of Cosette. Her words, the taste of her lips, their texture, and the natural blush on her face when he parted his lips from her. His breathing grew heavy as he felt like he was in that situation again.

"This time... it\'s my fault." Maxen peeked from his one eye, staring at the ceiling. "I shouldn\'t let her make my heart flutter every single time she opens that mouth of hers."

He winced, but he couldn\'t help it. He had been trying his best to not cross the line with her, but ever since last night, his body kept aching for her. If only he could confine her in his embrace securely, where no one else could come close to her, he would\'ve done it.

After all, everyone just wanted a piece of Cosette. When he wanted her whole. Sarah, Fay, Amie, Luke, and just everyone. But Maxen could only keep these thoughts and desire to monopolize her to himself.

"I shouldn\'t be happy when her father can kill me if he heard about it." Maxen ground his teeth once more. That was another problem: Conrad. Although Conrad had been open-minded and considered things such as this, Maxen felt like he didn\'t have a face to show at that great man.

Conrad was paying him to look after Cosette, but actually, someone should look after Cosette from Maxen. Living in the same house with his first love would only make worse things for Maxen.

"I should move out..." he murmured, thinking he didn\'t mind giving up the comfort of protecting Cosette from him. If only Maxen could remember the money he had in his bank right now, but apparently, he hadn\'t checked.

\'Actually, if I move out... I am protecting us both.\' He mentally nodded at this claim. \'She\'s too impulsive and I\'m too weak to draw the line. This is why teenage pregnancy --\'

Maxen\'s face froze as his thoughts halted for a moment. "Shit!" he pulled his body up, brushing his hair back in distress.

"Teenage pregnancy? Seriously, Max?" he closed his eyes and huffed. "I\'m thinking so far ahead when we just kissed."

He ruffled his hair in irritation, then fanned himself as he felt his body temperature rising. He checked the air-conditioned, and he was certain it was working. Yet, he was sweating buckets.

"Damn it..." he cursed under his breath, flinging his legs out of the bed. As he marched towards the bathroom, he was already taking his clothes off. His face was already red as a result of his wild imagination. The memory of Cosette in a bikini wasn\'t helping as well.

Why? Because it was etched in his brain, and he couldn\'t help but think of \'perverse\' things. Even when he stood under the cold shower, Maxen had a hard time cooling his body down. His brain just kept repeating Cosette in a bikini, her smirk last night while saying the word \'misbehave,\' her claims on the bus, and the heat of her lips lingering in his.

"Come on..." He planted his palms on the tiled wall, eyes closed. When he reopened his eyes, his eyes landed on his erection that wouldn\'t calm down.

"This is embarrassing..." he whispered as he reached for it helplessly. This was the only way to cool his body down, and he promised to keep this secret to his grave.

******

Meanwhile, in the girls\' room...

"Tsk tsk tsk." Fay clicked her tongue continuously, shaking her head while darting her eyes at Sarah and Cosette. She was already sober, sitting on her bed, arms crossed. "I guess this is the sign I was looking for."

"The sign that being wasted for more than a day is better than drinking moderately?" Amie asked, leaning comfortably against the headboard. The medicines and enough sleep cured her hangover, and they just woke up minutes after Cosette returned from the trip.

"Exactly. Look at us. We\'re fresh as a daisy." Fay cast her a knowing look and then snorted at Cosette and Sarah. "Look at those two. Both injured."

"But if you drank too much, you\'ll meet an accident too."

"But I didn\'t." Fay shrugged.

"You\'re enjoying this, are you?" Sarah frowned, knowing Fay was taking advantage of their situation so she wouldn\'t get scolded by Sarah. After all, Sarah swore she would scold those two for drinking too much last night.

"Of course not!" Fay gasped. "How can I enjoy it when my friends have both sprained ankles?"

"You..." Sarah sighed and shook her head. "Whatever. I\'ll just send you a video of how you embarrassed yourself last night."

"Wait! Let\'s talk about it!" Fay\'s complexion instantly grew pale, wide-eyed. "I didn\'t walk naked, right?"

"What? Have you done that before?" asked Sarah in disbelief.

"No, but I need to be sure!"

"Don\'t worry. I think she\'s bluffing. She returned before us, remember?" Amie chuckled when Sarah laughed, while Fay frowned.

"Mommy Sarah! How can you do that to me?!" Fay grumbled, only for Sarah to shrug.

"That is not impossible to happen if you keep that attitude, young miss." Sarah grinned smugly before setting her eyes on Cosette. "Cozie, you\'re silent. Did you enjoy today\'s trip?"

Cosette, who was leaning against the headboard, with her feet outside the bed and the other on the bed. She glanced at Sarah and smiled, glancing at the other two on their respective beds.

"I did..." She bit her lips to suppress it from stretching even wider. "The city is great, and we went to different locations. We took a lot of photos, too. It just so happened I bumped into someone and this happened."

Sarah glanced at the bandaid on Cosette\'s knee before raising her eyes again. "Maxen didn\'t kill whoever that is, right?"

"He nearly did." Cosette chuckled. "But he didn\'t."

"Damn it! If I was there, I will sew that person\'s eyes so he would look where he\'s running to next time!" Fay grumbled, making Amie shudder at the violent claim.

"It\'s fine..." Cosette offered them a smile. "I mean, things happen and when they do, all we can do is how to react to the situation. Also... Uhm..."

"Also?" Sarah quirked a brow, making Cosette look back at her. When Cosette shifted her eyes at Fay and Amie, their brows rose in anticipation.

"Also..." Cosette bit her tongue, wondering if she should tell them what happened. "I came to know Max cares for me. He was so scared, and it was the first time I saw him get scared."

She laughed awkwardly, deciding to keep this a secret for now. But when she looked at them, she tilted her head to the side.

"What?" she asked in confusion, seeing that the three were giving her this odd look.

"Cozie, are you dense or what?" asked Fay in a voice only a level above a whisper.

"Huh?"

"We thought you already noticed it and just act like you don\'t," Amie added in the same low tone.

"Max only cares for you, Cozie." This time, Sarah also voiced her thoughts. "Do you think Max will come with us without you?"

"If Death suddenly appears here and asked Maxen whether to sacrifice us to save you, or to sacrifice you to save every living being in this world, he will definitely choose the former without batting an eye," Fay gave out an example that was actually common knowledge to everyone but never spoken verbally. "And we\'re all dead for sure."

Cosette pressed her lips into a thin line and chuckled awkwardly. "That\'s an exaggerated claim."

"It\'s so obvious Max likes you more than just a classmate and a friend," Amie murmured. "Isn\'t that why Luke couldn\'t rest?"

"Cozie, don\'t tell us you really haven\'t noticed that?" Sarah asked and cocked her head to the side.

Silence fell in the room as the three kept their eyes on Cosette. The latter bit her lower lips and lowered her eyes.

"Why, Cozie? Tell me now that you\'re only toying with me, so I won\'t hold on to a silly fantasy that you... that I matter to you."

Maxen\'s voice rang in her head and she remembered the desperate look in his eyes. That look she had never seen in the past. It wasn\'t something that affiliated with anger, but rather pain. It was as if, once Cosette spoke the wrong words, he would break.

It wasn\'t like Cosette\'s answer to his question wasn\'t the truth. It came from the heart, but somehow, the thought of it brought this unknown fear into her heart.

"Do I have to notice it?" she whispered to herself. \'When I already know this story might lead to this sort of plot?\'

Cosette raised her head and smiled at them. "I\'ll take a walk outside."